Kevin Harvick Wins His First NASCAR Championship

Kevin Harvick won his first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title Sunday when he beat out Ryan Newman to win the Ford EcoBoost 400 in Miami.

Four drivers including Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman came into the final NASCAR Chase for the Cup Finale with a chance to win the overall crown in the new playoff system’s inaugural season, but it was Kevin Harvick who came out with the overall win in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday and was the winner of the entire NASCAR season.

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Kevin Harvick came into the race with four wins in 35 starts and got his fifth and biggest win on Sunday as he is the first winner in the all-new NASCAR Chase for the Cup elimination playoff system. The new playoff system contained 10 races overall, and after 16 drivers began in the chase, just four remained for the final race.

It was still a 43-driver field, but just four drivers were competing for the NASCAR Championship. The playoff system was still based on points, but each of the four drivers’ slates were wiped clean and the champion would be determined by who had the best finish. It was Kevin Harvick who finished first, but Ryan Newman in the 31 Caterpillar construction car was not far behind, finishing in second place.

Denny Hamlin was also in the top 10 and not far behind Harvick and Newman at seventh place and Joey Logano found himself behind in 16th place.

Kevin Harvick had the best average finish in his career racing at Homestead-Miami among the four drivers with a 8.1 place average, with zero wins at the race track. Hamlin was close with an 11.2 average place with two wins at the race track and Logano (20.8), Newman (17.0) were far behind going into the race.

All four drivers came into the race without ever winning a Sprint Cup Series title, and now Kevin Harvick has his first one at 38-years-old.

Here are the unofficial race results:

POS	DRIVER	CAR	MANUFACTURER	LAPS	MONEY	START	LED	PTS	BONUS	PENALTY
1	Kevin Harvick		Chevrolet	267		5	54	43	1	0
2	Ryan Newman		Chevrolet	267		21	0	42	0	0
3	Brad Keselowski		Ford	267		4	0	41	0	0
4	Paul Menard		Chevrolet	267		16	0	40	0	0
5	Jamie McMurray		Chevrolet	266		19	0	39	0	0
6	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	266		8	50	38	1	0
7	Matt Kenseth		Toyota	266		3	0	37	0	0
8	Clint Bowyer		Toyota	266		6	0	36	0	0
9	Jeff Gordon		Chevrolet	266		1	161	37	2	0
10	Kasey Kahne		Chevrolet	266		23	0	34	0	0
11	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	266		27	0	33	0	0
12	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	266		12	0	32	0	0
13	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	266		2	1	32	1	0
14	Dale Earnhardt Jr.		Chevrolet	266		11	0	30	0	0
15	Justin Allgaier		Chevrolet	266		14	0	29	0	0
16	Martin Truex Jr.		Chevrolet	266		10	0	28	0	0
17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	266		22	0	27	0	0
18	Joey Logano		Ford	266		9	0	26	0	0
19	Casey Mears		Chevrolet	266		29	0	25	0	0
20	Aric Almirola		Ford	266		18	0	24	0	0
21	Danica Patrick		Chevrolet	266		32	0	23	0	0
22	Michael McDowell		Ford	266		38	0	22	0	0
23	Cole Whitt		Toyota	266		42	0	21	0	0
24	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	266		24	0	20	0	0
25	Brian Vickers		Toyota	266		13	0	19	0	0
26	Reed Sorenson		Chevrolet	266		36	0	18	0	0
27	Brian Scott		Chevrolet	266		30	0	0	0	0
28	Marcos Ambrose		Ford	266		17	0	16	0	0
29	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	266		33	0	0	0	0
30	David Ragan		Ford	266		31	0	14	0	0
31	David Gilliland		Ford	266		35	0	13	0	0
32	Josh Wise		Chevrolet	266		37	0	12	0	0
33	Alex Bowman		Toyota	263		41	0	11	0	0
34	Carl Edwards		Ford	262		15	0	10	0	0
35	Michael Annett		Chevrolet	262		39	0	9	0	0
36	Brett Moffitt		Toyota	261		43	0	8	0	0
37	J.J. Yeley		Toyota	254		34	0	0	0	0
38	Blake Koch		Ford	254		40	1	0	0	0
39	Kyle Busch		Toyota	245		7	0	5	0	0
40	AJ Allmendinger		Chevrolet	235		25	0	4	0	0
41	Greg Biffle		Ford	219		20	0	3	0	0
42	Trevor Bayne		Ford	204		26	0	0	0	0
43	Tony Stewart		Chevrolet	182		28	0	1	0	0

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